Alito, AI, Attorney Fees

Law360 has Sen. Whitehouse Files Ethics Complaint Against Justice Alito -- Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I., wrote to Supreme Court Justice John Roberts on Monday to file an ethics complaint against Justice Samuel Alito for alleged violations of "several canons of judicial ethics, including standards the Supreme Court has long applied to itself. "

Myron Moskovitz's DJ column today is My AI Nightmare, in which he imagines the Terminator as an appellate lawyer. He concludes that "at least for now" humans make better appellate lawyers than machines because AI can't apply intuition to pick up unstated cues at oral argument: "appellate judges tend to ask questions rather than make comments. But simply answering their questions literally is a big mistake. Behind every judge’s question lurks a viewpoint."

And the DJ's Exceptionally Appealing monthly column has Apostrophic Apotheosis: Whose fees are they, anyway? Prompted by Estate of Gentry v. Hamilton-Ryker IT Solutions, 3:19-CV-00320, 2023 WL 5018432, at *1 n.2 (S.D. Tex. Aug. 7, 2023), this piece attempts to tackle one of the "burning legal questions of our generation," “Is the proper term ‘attorney fees,’ ‘attorneys fees,’ ‘attorney’s fees,’ or ‘attorneys’ fees?’”

Blumberg Law has Color of Justice: All-White Benches Persist in US District Courts -- Of the 94 federal district courts, 25 have never had a non-White judge, according to a Bloomberg Law analysis of federal court records.

Law360 has Here's Where Judicial Vacancies Stand As Congress Returns

• The Biden administration has gotten 140 judges (including a Supreme Court justice) confirmed so far, a fact much celebrated by the White House and Democrats. But at the end of August, that impressive number still trailed the 146 secured by Trump at the same point in his administration
• As of Sept. 1, there are seven vacancies on appeals courts, which are in the First, Third, Fourth, Fifth, Seventh, Ninth and Tenth circuits. Four of the seven vacancies have nominees, according to the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts. Biden also can nominate a successor to Judge Julia Smith Gibbons of the Sixth Circuit, who plans to take senior status when her successor is confirmed.
• There are 61 vacancies for district courts as of Sept. 1, with 25 nominees pending.

And see LASC's press release today: NATION’S LARGEST TRIAL COURT EXPANDS UNPRECEDENTED RECRUITMENT AND RETENTION CAMPAIGN TO ADDRESS CHRONIC  COURT REPORTER SHORTAGE